The Ministry of Finance reports that Fitch Rating personnel would visit Nepal at the end of August to further the company's credit rating efforts.
It appears that the process of rating a nation's sovereign credit, which indicates the state of its branch and is seen to be crucial for drawing in foreign investment, will shortly get underway. The international credit rating agency chosen for the rating has not yet started work, despite the government's claim that the procedure will be finished before the investment conference in Baisakh.
An official from the Ministry of Finance told Economic Campaign, "We have received information indicating that a representative of the American credit rating agency Fitch Rating will visit Nepal to further the work of credit rating."
Nepal's sovereign credit will be rated by Fitch Rating. Country rating is another name for sovereign credit rating. According to officials, the Fitch representative would deliver the credit rating report to Nepal within three months of his arrival.
According to the official, training is presently underway for employees of the National Planning Commission, Nepal Rastra Bank, Nepal Securities Board, National Insurance Authority, and Ministry of Finance. He claims that the Ministry of Finance is training staff members from the Prime Minister's office, the Council of Ministers, and the Ministry of Law on how to bring up Nepal's concern with the rating authority. The primary indicator of a nation's financial health and creditworthiness among the several bases is its "sovereign credit rating."
Sovereign credit rating is a requirement for foreign investors to make investments. When assigning a rating, credit rating companies thoroughly examine the general state of the nation or firm. Triple 'A' to 'D' classifications are assigned by Fitch. India is rated triple 'B' minus out of all the South Asian countries. India's credit rating is stable, and its economic growth is expected to outpace that of other comparable nations, according to Fitch. Infrastructure development, a robust services sector, and private sector investment will all benefit India.
It is widely acknowledged that Moody's, Fitch, and Standard & Poor's (S&P) are respectable credit rating agencies. Global investors view the ratings these organizations have given to any given nation or business as trustworthy. Fitch will pay a service charge to the British Cooperation Mission through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in order to rate Nepal's credit. A task force headed by the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance's Financial Division was established 1.5 years ago with the goal of finishing the country rating in time for the investment conference. A year ago, the working group took the necessary steps to prepare, but when the rating business failed to show up for a field visit, there was an issue. According to finance officials, they are now upgrading the ministry-prepared indicators. We have gathered and stored the data in accordance with the format specified by the rating agency. We have no trouble updating it," the economic campaign official stated.
The government declared the sovereign credit rating in the budget for the fiscal year 2075–2076 in an effort to attract more international investment. A public notice had been released by the government inviting enterprises to apply for sovereign credit rating. The three largest rating agencies globally, Fitch, Moody's, and Standard & Poor's, submitted applications. One of them was a credit rating agreement between the government and Fitch Rating Agency. A second technical assistance arrangement was also formed for that purpose with the present UK Aid and the then British International Cooperation Agency (DFID).